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If there’s one thing the Buffalo Bills learned about defensive tackle Jordan Phillips during his tenure in Orchard Park, it’s how he feels about his former teams.
A second-round pick of the Dolphins, Miami cut Phillips in 2018 and the Bills claimed him. Phillips had some issues with their coaching staff at the time and whenever the Bills and Dolphins faced off after that, Phillips played with an extra gear.
Having seen that first hand, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott on Wednesday admitted that he plans to get the best of the 28-year-old in Week 10 when the Bills visit the Arizona Cardinals.
“Very, very talented player. We were sorry to see him go,” McDermott said. “Nice to see things work out for a player that came here and was able to go and make things for his family and life better.”
“A lot of respect and appreciation for Jordan. He’s going to play… he always preforms great against his former teams, I’m sure he’ll be highly motivated. He’ll be a big challenge for us as well.” McDermott added.
But that’s if Phillips plays, too. As of Wednesday afternoon, the defender was not practicing with his team. He did play in Week 9, but previously had a hamstring issue. It remains to be seen how he progresses throughout this week.
Assuming Phillips does get on the field, by comparison, he actually doesn’t have the type of “bad blood” toward the Bills like he does toward the Dolphins. A bit of a positive for the Bills this week.
After his half season start with Buffalo in 2018, Phillips re-signed with the Bills via a one-year deal. He bet on himself in Buffalo and cashed in on that this offseason, signing a three-year, $30 million deal in Arizona.
Sure, Phillips could be motivated to show he was worth that, but there’s no hate. At last season’s locker cleanout day, Phillips said he was open to coming back to the Bills, but of course, there’s the business side which led him to the Cards.
After signing with the Cardinals, he even tipped his cap to the Bills, too.
“I had a lot of opportunities to get more sacks and be more productive. Buffalo did a real good job of utilizing my talents and they reaped the benefits of it last year,” Phillips said in April. “Arizona was somewhere if it didn’t work out with Buffalo that… Arizona would be a place to be. They’re a young, talented team, kind of how Buffalo was.”
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